After adding Fidesz MEP Andrea Bocskor, Ukrainian nationalist organization Myrotvorets has now also included László Brenzovics, the president of the Transcarpathian Hungarian Cultural Association (KMKSZ), on its list of “enemies of Ukraine.”
The editors of the website accuse him of, among other things, deliberately spreading manipulated information in society to incite hatred between nationalities, and of participating in the “aggressor disinformation operations of Russia and Hungary against Ukraine.”
Not more than a few weeks ago, Brenzovics’s home as well the headquarters of the Transcarpathian Hungarian Cultural Association were raided by Ukraine’s secret service in connection with charges of separatism. The association said the procedure was based on fabricated political charges.
EPP Condemns Ukrainian Threats Against Fidesz MEP Andrea Bocskor
After Ukrainian nationalist organization Myrotvorets added Fidesz MEP Andrea Bocskor to its list of “enemies of Ukraine” for allegedly “attacking Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” many in the European Parliament raised their voices against the incident.
The EPP Group condemned recent threats against Andrea Bocskor, Fidesz’s Hungarian- Ukranian MEP, the group said on its website on Tuesday.
On behalf of the parliamentary group, MEPs Sandra Kalniete and Michael Gahler expressed their solidarity with their colleague. “Candid dialogue or criticism is the bedrock of democracy and freedom. But it should not be misinterpreted and misused,” they emphasized.
Actions taken against the Cultural Alliance of Hungarians in Transcarpathia and its institutions and foundations are reason for serious concern, Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony said on Tuesday, citing a letter he wrote to Beregszász (Berehove) Mayor Zoltán Babják.
Karácsony said he had expressed his solidarity to members of the ethnic Hungarian community and assured Babják that Beregszász, a sister city of Budapest, could always rely on Budapest’s support and partnership.
Karácsony said a recent house search at the college of Beregszász was especially unsettling, considering that the II Rákóczi Ferenc Hungarian College of Transcarpathia is an important institution of Hungarian education and culture beyond the borders.
Ukraine is using “the darkest methods reminiscent of the Soviet era” to intimidate its citizens, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said on Facebook on Sunday.
The minister reacted to recent press reports that Ukraine’s security service launched criminal proceedings against local councillors of the village of Szürte (Siurte), in western Ukraine’s Transcarpathia region, on suspicion of treason after they sang the Hungarian national anthem after a festive session.
Szijjártó said the move proved that Kiev was “committed to European integration in words only”. He added that “contrary to the practices employed by Ukraine”, all European and international laws guaranteed national minorities the right to preserve their identity.
Ruling Parties Turn to EP President over Threat Targeting MEP
The European Parliamentary group of Hungary’s ruling Fidesz and Christian Democrats has written a letter to EP President David Sassoli over the inclusion of Fidesz MEP Andrea Bocskor on Ukrainian nationalist organisation Myrotvorets’s list of “enemies of Ukraine”.
In a statement on Sunday, the parliamentary group expressed outrage and concern over the “open and harsh threat” made against Bocskor. In the letter, Tamás Deutsch, the head of the MEP group, also drew Sassoli’s attention to the fact that Bocskor, as a Hungarian from Transcarpathia, also represents the Hungarian minority living in Ukraine and often talks about the legal restrictions affecting them.